The Met Office has issued a rare extreme red heat warning update as temperatures are expected to reach 36C on Thursday. The forecaster has warned of possible impacts to railway lines and power networks as highs are predicted this week.
Fifth heatwave of the summer
Scorching temperatures will see parts of the UK bake in their fifth heatwave of the summer. Monday will be slightly cooler before temperatures rise again on Tuesday.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: "We'll probably see highs reaching the mid-30s quite widely on Wednesday, and indeed on Thursday too for England and Wales."
Hottest day likely Thursday
Morgan added: "On Wednesday, probably the Midlands, maybe a little bit further south, the M4 corridor, west of London, up towards the Midlands, is where we might have a small chance of reaching 36C in one or two spots. But Thursday at this stage looks the most likely hottest day of the week. So 36C is a fairly reasonable probability locally on Thursday and there's a small chance it could get even higher than that."
Drought and health alerts
Due to recent warm conditions, half of England and Wales has been plunged into drought, and more regions could be declared when officials meet at the National Drought Group on Monday.
Morgan said: "If it wasn't for this incredible summer that we're currently seeing, then we'd be talking about these temperatures as being really, very unusual. But of course, we've had such an exceptional summer, people have become a bit used to it. There is a potential for impacts, so impacts to infrastructure, things like railway lines and power networks, impacts to vulnerable people as well."
Yellow heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency are in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London, and currently continue until 9pm on Tuesday. These may well be extended as the hot weather continues.
Extreme heat warnings under consideration
The Met Office is considering issuing rare extreme heat warnings ahead of the scorching temperatures forecast later in the week. Morgan said: "We sometimes issue extreme heat warnings, amber and red warnings, which we did back in June, so that's under consideration at the moment."
Another record is set to tumble this week after Sunday was the 34th day so far this year when temperatures exceeded 30C somewhere in the UK, equalling the record from 1995. So far, the extreme weather of summer 2026 has included two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June that led to more than 2,800 excess deaths. Two more heatwaves in July, the driest July in England and Wales since records began in 1836, have fuelled drought and wildfires.
